Process of making a food display cover



Jan. 16, 1940. A. E. ROUSE PROCESS OF MAKING A FOOD DISPLAY COVER Oct 2' EMMKZW;

Patented Jan. 16, 1940 I UNITED STATES PROCESS or MAKING A roon DISPLAY covEn Arthur E. Rouse,-Indianapolis, Ind., assignor, by -mesne assignments, to Food Display Cover Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation oflndiana Application October 2, 1936, Serial No. 103.714

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of producing a translucent, sanitary display cover, light in weight, to tastily present and display in 9. santhereby further distinguishing from Cellophane covers.

The chief feature of the invention consists in the method of fabrication, whereby there is produced a sanitary display cover of the character briefly set forth.

Another feature of the invention consists in the construction of the sanitary cover.

As previously set forth, certain transparent or translucent materials, such as glass and/or "Cellophane have certain inherent objections to their use as a sanitary, translucent or transparent display cover.

The present invention is directed toward the application of sheet material of the character hereinbefore briefly mentioned, to a metallic frame usually of wire, and provided with a handie, if, as and when desired. The material in question is an acetate sheet, preferably about .003" in thickness. It is transparent, flexible, stretches well under pressure, is of relatively low inflammability, and when ignited will burn very slowly with substantially little or no flame. For specific purposes, sheeting of slightly less thickness or greater thickness than that specified may be employed.

The frame broadly speaking is of open-work character, havingribs, or the like, and a peripheral border. Supplementary frame members may also be provided, the cover conforming generally to the conformation, as determined by the frame.

In the preferred method of cover production,

there is first provided the open-work frame without a handle. There is then superimposed thereon the acetate sheeting of the desired size and outline. If a single sheet be employed, it is then made to conform generally" to the frame work and is cut and trimmed so to do, leaving sufficient marginal edges for lapping purposes. The frame work may be of lacquered wire, aluminum wire, or chromium plated wire. The sheeting may be clear and transparent or may be suitably colored and, therefore, translucent.

The handle may beof any desired shape or outline and of wood, composition, metal, porcelain or glass, it is suitable anchored to the frame 10 work and preferably after the sheeting is ap: plied thereto and tautened thereon.

After initial application of the-sheeting material to the cover, the several joints are sealed by applying acetone to the lapping surfaces. This 15 presupposes an initial stretching operation. The lap joint produced thereby is of appreciable width. Certain portions of the frame are partially enveloped by "the sheet material. Other portions of the frame are entirely enveloped by the sheet material, the latter usually being the peripheral portion thereof.

After having sealed the sheet material to the frame, the display cover presents a rather crude and wrinkled appearance, there being certain bulges therein due to excess material. The cover is then subjected to heat by positioning the same in an oven or subjecting it to heat derived from an open flame, care, of course, in the latter instance being exercised to prevent direct contact of the sheet material of the cover with the flame. It has been determined that a suitable temperature is about 200 F. and the approximate maximum temperature is 250 F. This operation has been termed thawing out or "tempering and 3 serves to take up the slackness, looseness, bulges, and the like, in the cover so that the resulting sheet material on the frame is tautened and presents a highly pleasing finished appearance. Following this operation if the handle has not been previously applied to the covered frame, the same is then applied thereto.

When a single sheet is used, the mounting of the handle naturally perforates the sheet at the point of handle mounting. 45

By way of example and in further explanation of the invention, reference will be to one form of cover and the same is illustrat i e- 1' the broad invention.

The full nature of the invention will be under- 50 stood from the accompanying drawing and the following description and claims:

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completed cover.

Fig. 2 is a central sectional view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, sectional view through 55 a corner portion of the cover immediately above the bottom portion thereof.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the frame work at the handle mounting portion and one form of frame work.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the stretch or rupture test for the material.

In the drawing I0 indicates a border wire. H indicates a supplementary border wire. l2 indicates diagonal ribs having the downwardly and outwardly directed portions l3. As shown in Fig. 4 these diagonal ribs may be centrally discontinued although rigidly connected. Intermediate and radially projecting ribs [4 similarly are provided with downwardly and outwardly directed extensions 15, all of the radial ribs being connected to the auxiliary peripheral frame element ll and the peripheral frame element ID in any suitable or desirable manner.

Herein, for convenience only, the display cover is illustrated as of rectangular outline. It may be polygonal or circular. Also, the open type frame work, in the case of the quadrilaterally outlined figure, may be provided with a plurality of wicket or arc shaped members I E--l5 in parallel relation and the supplementary peripheral member H may or may not be used, as desired Reference will now be had to Fig. 4. In this figure, the transverse ribs I 4 and the diagonal ribs I2 all terminate short of meeting engagement with their aligned rib and all are flattened and welded, or the like, to a central member in the form of a washer l6 having the central opening H.

The acetate sheet A having the characteristics before mentioned, may be gripped in two hands, B and C, see Fig. 5, and pressed downwardly upon ablunt support such as a pencil D, suitably supported as being held in the hand E. This sheet will stretch without rupture to the extent disclosed in Fig. 5. This test indicates the sheet material may have considerable thumb or finger pressure applied to it when applied to the frame in cover formation without rupture. Of course, a pointed instrument will pierce the material.

The invention will now be described as embodying a single sheet applied to the open type frame work, since this is the most expeditious manner of covering the frame, but the invention is not necessarily restricted thereto.

The sheet I8 is superimposed upon the cover and drawn down, portions of the sheet being cut away so that the same form the sides F and G of the cover. It will be noted the surplus comer material in the sheet is removed up to a point indicated by the numeral IS in Figs. 1 and 2. The material is cut so as to provide lapping flaps 20 along the sides and bottom lapping flaps 2 l The material after initial stretching or smoothing out, then has applied to the portions to be lapped a thin coating of acetone and pressure is applied to form the lapped joints in the sides at the corners which partially embrace the frame and the lapped joints at the bottom of the cover which completely embrace the peripheral portion of the frame.

Preferably, the sheet is cut to the approximate requirements and then is trimmed as desired or required. It 'will be observed that the lapped joints are of appreciable width. This is to insure the positive anchorage necessary in the subsequent operation. At this point or following the operation now to be described, the handle may be pplied to the structure.

The operation referred to is the tempering or thawing out operation. When the connections have sufliciently solidified or set, the cover is subjected to heat which tautens the cover and removes all irregularities in the sheet material and stretches the cover upon. the frame. There is quite a bit of tension in the various panels of the cover defined by the frame members. Wherefore, the joint anchorages specified hereinbefore must be of the character set forth. Following the tempering operation or preceding the same, as desired, the handle is mounted on the cover structure. The handle herein is illustrated as a glass knob 23 having a longitudinal coaxial opening extending therethrough which receives in countersunk relation the body and head of an elongated screw bolt 24. The screw bolt 24 supports a washer 25 below the flattened ends of the radially directed ribs and bearing thereon in clamping relation is the nut 26. Thus the handle is rigidly secured to the cover and the cover is a completed structure.

While the invention has been described in great detail in the drawing and description, respectively, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications mentioned herein as well as others which will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, are all considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. The method of making a sanitary cover, comprising an open frame, consisting in applying to said frame a sheet of material capable of being shrunk below its normal size byheat and of a size initially greater than the area of said frame, engaging the edges of said sheet around the perimeter of the frame and cementing the said'edges thereto, and finally subjecting the frame and its sheet to a temperature sufiicient only to shrink the sheet evenly in all directions without distortion of the frame.

2. The method of producing a sanitary cover including an open metallic frame having an anchoring post disposed inwardly from its edges,

consisting in applying to said frame a sheet of material capable of being shrunk below its normal size by heat and of a size initially greater than the area of the frame, anchoring said sheet to said post, engaging the edges of said sheet around the perimeter of the frame and cementing said edges thereto, and finally subjecting the frame and its sheet to a temperature sufficient only to shrink the sheet evenly in all directions without distortion of the frame.

AR'I'HUR E. HOUSE. 

